Critix 🎬
Unleash your inner Critic
OVERVIEW
A movie ranking app allowing users to rank movies, share watch lists, and discover new films
TIMELINE
July 2023 - Present
ROLES
User Experience Designer
User Interface Designer
PROBLEM
Where do we discover and discuss good films?
Even with all the social media options these days, it feels like there isn't an obvious place on the internet to share good films with friends or keep track of what you're watching. Movies are also so versatile that it's often difficult to place a number rating when rating a movie.
The current options are good for browsing new movies but namely have 3 major problems:
The current options are good for browsing new movies but namely have 3 major problems:
1. Reviews are from critics users aren't familiar with
2. It's hard to place number values to movies when rating them
3. Hard to track and share watch lists
Ranking on-the-go
I originally thought movie-watchers would want to rank and review movies on their desktop but after bothering my avid movie watching friends, it seemed more and more obvious that the solution was an application, allowing users to rank the movie within 20 seconds of stepping out of the theatre.
Ranking on-the-go
I originally thought movie-watchers would want to rank and review movies on their desktop but after bothering my avid movie watching friends, it seemed more and more obvious that the solution was an application, allowing users to rank the movie within 20 seconds of stepping out of the theatre.
PERSONAS
Who are the rankers, reviewers, and discoverers?
It was important for me to think about all kinds of movie-watchers while designing this app, so I decided to create personas. I ultimately came up with three kinds of viewers and decided to focus each tab of the application on each type.
• Josh would want to review each movie he watched.
• Dali would want to discover new rom-coms and add them to her watch list.
• Brandon would want to share what he's been watching and stay up-to-date on what all his friends were watching.
• Dali would want to discover new rom-coms and add them to her watch list.
• Brandon would want to share what he's been watching and stay up-to-date on what all his friends were watching.
FEATURE PRIORITIZATION
Take One
We came up with a long list of features we ideally wanted the application to have and cut back according to what was realistically possible to develop and design quickly. We had to cut back on a few key features such as displaying the movie trailer on the movie detail pages, but I came up with replacements such as linking to the movie IMDb page so users would still have access to that information.
INFORMATION HEIRARCHY
Rank a movie in 20 seconds or less?
Goal: Users should be able to reach the rank flow from every page of the application
The idea was that users should be able to access movie ranking from any tab of the application, so I came up with the quickest possible flows a user could take to rank a movie.
In addition to these two flows, users can also rank a movie in these ways:
In addition to these two flows, users can also rank a movie in these ways:
- Tap a rank button on a feed post
- Tap a rank button from the movie details page
- Tap a rank button on the movie poster images
WIREFRAMES
The First Cut
The First Cut
With the personas and user flows set, I had a clear idea of what users such as Josh, Dali, and Brandon should experience when they open the app. These were key for the wireframes and I made sure to check back at the feature list and mission statement often while designing.
BRANDING
Close-Up
Close-Up
When deciding the color scheme for Critix, I knew I wanted the application to be in dark mode to simulate the dark room you watch a movie in. For the accent color, I decided red because that's a color already associated with cinema, as shown by the AMC, Cinemark, and Netflix websites. When crafting the design system, I made sure to create Figma components for all reusable components so it would be easier for me while designing and for development.
KEY SCREENS
Director's Cut
Director's Cut
NEXT STEPS
I am currently working on the prototype for this application, as well as working with the development team to get the application developed and on the app store. Check back soon for more design system and prototype updates!
